These days, it seems you’re nobody if you’re not working on a way to merge machines with the human brain. Earlier this year, both Facebook and perpetual moonshot-enthusiast Elon Musk announced plans for brain-computer interfaces that could allow us to read the thoughts of others and improve our capacity for learning.…
In 2009, Gary Olhoeft walked into a Best Buy to buy some DVDs. He walked out with his whole body twitching and convulsing. Olhoeft has a brain implant, tiny bits of microelectronic circuitry that deliver electrical impulses to his motor cortex in order to control the debilitating tremors he suffers as a symptom of…
For decades, scientists have dreamed of how electricity might be used to change the human brain. By altering its firing patterns using currents, scientists hope to not only treat mental illness, but improve human cognition. Trouble is, so far the most successful of these enterprises have relied on implanting…
“It sounds impossible but it’s closer than you may realize,” Facebook’s Regina Dugan recently told audience members at the F8 developer conference. Dugan was referring to the social network’s plans to read users’ thoughts. Just in time to inject some practical considerations into that terrifying scenario, researchers…
Zapping the brain with small bursts of electricity in hopes of improving memory isn’t a brand new concept, however a new study shows that the experimental therapy could be more effective than previous studies indicated. A team of neuroscientist from the University of Pennsylvania are the first to successfully…
How did a Massachusetts woman end up with two electrodes implanted into her brain? Why is the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency developing a controversial, cutting-edge brain chip technology that could one day treat everything from major depressive disorder to hand cramps? How did we get to deep brain…
Deep brain stimulation involves threading electrodes deep into the brain — it's invasive, but it's also an effective way to treat disorders like Parkinson's and depression. But now scientists have a new wireless brain stimulation technique, which targets the proteins that sense heat and spice.
The short answer is deep brain stimulation (DBS), a targeted form of electrotherapy used to treat brain disorders like Parkinson's disease and OCD. The long answer, i.e. why DBS is sometimes so remarkably effective, remains poorly understood – but researchers this week took a big step on their path to…
While performing deep brain surgery on a woman with epilepsy, neuroscientists from George Washington University stimulated an area of her brain that unexpectedly — and temporarily — caused her to lose awareness. It's a discovery that could shed light on the very nature of consciousness itself.
In 2009, Andrew Johnson, 35, was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's disease. Last November, and again in February, he underwent a procedure, during which surgeons implanted a device in his brain that controls his tremors. Today, you'd never guess he suffers from Parkinson's – but watch what happens when he turns…
It was starting to get so bad for Ontario's Kim Rollins that her mother started to make plans for the funeral. Conventional therapies weren't helping to alleviate her severe anorexia, so Rollins decided to volunteer for a cutting-edge treatment: deep-brain stimulation. Now, with her "brain pacemaker," she has been…
